"In this stunning and well-researched book, Kevin Levin catches the new waves of the study of memory, black soldiers, and the darker underside of the Civil War as well as anyone has." -David Blight, author of Race and Reunion

I would forward this to Texas Governor Rick Perry, but I'm afraid he might not quite understand the language of Justice Scalia's letter or the simplicity of this post. Any public official foolish enough to make a statement in support of secession (like he did last spring at an early tea party rally) probably won't ever get it. Thankfully, the March primary is just around the corner and the general is in November!

What I've never understood is why we tend to view these secessionist folks as patriots. Supposedly these are the people that are defending our freedoms. That has always seemed to me to be just a bit absurd.

In part because, through the Lost Cause movement, the Civil War is one of those rare wars where the vanquished did a pretty fair job of taking over the history. In addition, once reconciliation of whites North and South became the goal, there was a lot of support for glossing over the details. What I can't respect is the secessionists' refusal to accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions.

Not to mention the fact that it didn't exactly work out that well for Texas the first time they tried it. I wonder how many of those at the rally who probably revere Sam Houston realize that he was bitterly opposed to secession. Ironically, the US Supreme Court decision that ruled that there was no constitutional right to secede is STATE OF TEXAS v. WHITE, 74 U.S. 700 (1868) (the case involved what impact if any actions by the rebel government of Texas had on the rights regarding US bonds held by Texas when the Civil War began) . The opinion of the Court, delivered by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, is very compelling and can be found at http://laws.findlaw.com/us/74/700.html